Sandinista National Liberation Front
The Sandinista National Liberation Front (Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, or FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. The FSLN was founded as a communist-backed guerilla group of various oppositional organizations in 1961. The group was named after Augusto César Sandino who led the Nicaraguan resistance against the United States occupation of Nicaragua in the 1930s. By the early 1970s, the FSLN was launching limited military initiatives. History In the early 1970s, the father of Amanda Valenciano Libre helped to hide some Sandinsta students from President Somoza's National Guard, but was tortured and harassed daily after refusing to give them up. He later decided to flee to Costa Rica with Amanda and his son Chico, and joined a Sandinista guerilla group, eventually becoming its comandante. The KGB secretly funded the exiled Sandinista group, through the provision of a drug purification plant, with some members only becoming aware of this after food and ammunition shortages began to decrease. The Comandante was later killed during Peace Sentinel's covert invasion of Costa Rica in 1974, with the group and its new leader Amanda being captured at a boathouse on the Rio del Jade. After being rescued by the Militaires Sans Frontières, Amanda had her Sandinistas ally with the mercenary group against Peace Sentinel, and ultimately the KGB, eventually returning to Nicaragua with the MSF's help. During this time, Peace Sentinel often tortured and killed any Sandinistas they captured. On December 27, 1974, the FSLN took hostages at a party at the house of a minister in the Somoza government. They secured the release of 14 political prisoners and achieved recognition as a representative of anti-Somoza sentiment. In 1975, Amanda was on assignment in Cuba when MSF underwent preparations for a UN nuclear weapons inspection at Mother Base, extending her stay. The remaining Sandinistas on the base were dispatched to Cuba to join her, as MSF believed the presence of Soviet-bloc personnel would complicate matters if discovered by the inspectors, although they recognized the risk of moving a group that size in a hurry.Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes, Kojima Productions (2014). Info > Pre-mission Brief: Mission Background & Intel > Brief 3: Preparing Staff for the Inspection Big Boss: About the inspection, what do we tell the men? // Kazuhira Miller: The truth. What else? The one thing we don’t need to worry about is anyone here spilling the beans about ZEKE. // Big Boss: Good point. What about the Sandinistas? There’s still quite a few of them left on the base. // Miller: I hate to say it, but it won’t look good having Soviet-bloc personnel here. The problem is moving a group that size in a hurry will look even worse. // Big Boss: At least Amanda is on assignment in Cuba. They’d recognize her. She should stay put for now. All members except Chico (who absconded to mount a rescue mission) managed to reconvene with their comandante. The FSLN ultimately overthrew Anastasio Somoza Debayle in 1979, ending the Somoza dynasty, and establishing a revolutionary socialist government in its place. A nickname of the FSLN was "watermelon sellers," which, contrary to what Big Boss thought, did not derive from smuggling weapons in hollowed out watermelons, but from General Sandino's nickname sounding similar to the Spanish word for watermelon, "sandía." Former members *Sandinista Comandante *Amanda Valenciano Libre *Chico Notes and references Category:Military Groups Category:Rebel Groups